US native visiting Galway, traveling around a bit, looking for fruit.

Greetings,

I am flying to Galway in a couple of weeks for work, and I'm an avid mountain biker in the southeast region of the US. I would like to explore the area as much as I can in 3-5 days. You all seem like a friendly bunch of kindred spirits, so I am hoping some of you would kindly bestow upon me some local knowledge relevant to my journey. I usually ride about 25-32km a day [slowly :) ] , and would like to find some trails that offer that sort of distance without repeating; bonus points if there's a great place to grab a pint nearby. My favorite local trail is Raccoon Mtn in Chattanooga, TN, but I ride at Blankets Creek in Woodstock, GA far more often as it is significantly closer to home.

If you contact a guy called "Neil Biking" from Glenamaddy on facebook he can help you out. He runs spins for a local club there.

Hi Man,

There is a great deal to seen in the Galway/Connemara area. There isn't a huge amount of built trails, but it is a massive mountainous and very beautiful area - plenty of exploring to be done on the bike.

Have a look here for some trails:

http://connemaramtb.com/local-trails/

Also, its is worth your while calling into MBW bike shop in moycullen just outside of Galway on the way to the derroura trails. Both the lads in here will tell you all you need to know. They have a great knowledge of the area and are two gents.

Now, pray for good weather :)

Believe it or not the infamous Hans Rey has a bit about biking up along the west coast on his website, a lot of which is in Clare - south of Galway. It might be a good guide for you....

http://www.hansrey.com/adventureframe.htm

Definitely call into Eric and Gary in MBW in Moycullen. They know all the local trails. If you want to meet up with someone to show you round then just post on Connemara MTB facebook page - there's always one of us around and looking for a spin. There's plenty of woodland XC trails and a few longer, more open mountain type trails. As someone said earlier, hope you get the weather.

Thanks for the information, everyone! I'll definitely take the advice. The Connemara MTB facebook page looks to be a real winner. As soon as I can iron out a time frame, I'll post on there to see if someone wants to ride. Hopefully Eric and Gary can accommodate me with some gear while I'm over there; it's good to know which shops have earned the support of the locals.

About that weather, hopefully I can bring some with me! The forecast over there is 18*C cooler than what I'm currently acclimated to ridding in, and doesn't appear to ever stop drizzling.

Thanks again, fellas!